Drunk driver hits utility pole

residents left without power

BAGLEY TWP. - A drunk driver crashing into a utility pole was reportedly the cause of a power outage in Bagley Township early Tuesday morning.

According to a press release from the Otsego County Sheriff’s Department, a vehicle crashed into a utility pole on McCoy Road near Evergreen Road at 2:20 a.m. Tuesday morning.

The driver, a 29-year-old Gaylord man, admitted to being intoxicated. The driver was transported to Otsego Memorial Hospital and was treated and released into the custody of the sheriff’s department and lodged in the Otsego County Jail. This was reportedly his second offense of operating while intoxicated; arraignment has yet to take place.

Repair crews were working in the rain Tuesday morning, installing a new utility pole on the south side of the road and restoring electricity by 9:20 a.m.

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According to one repairman at the scene Tuesday, the pole had been knocked completely across the roadway, affecting Great Lakes Energy customers. Dave Guzniczak, communications director for Great Lakes Energy, said approximately 138 customers were affected by the power outage.

Guzniczak said in cases where a vehicle damages a utility pole, restitution is sought for the cost of the repair.

This is the second power outage to hit the area since Sunday evening, when a malfunction in an underground electrical cable cut power to 122 customers for between 1 and 6 1/2 hours (see related story, page A3).

It was not immediately known if, or how many, cable and phone customers were affected.